Kuala Lumpur: The second round draw for the 2012 London Olympics men’s football tournament threw up some interesting battles with arch-rivals Iraq and Iran pitted against each other on Wednesday.
Eleven teams, who have qualified from Round 1, joined 13 direct entrants into the second round. The teams will be divided into 12 groups and will play home-and-away on June 19 and June 23.
Iraq, who stole the limelight by making it to the semi-finals of the 2004 Athens Olympics under Adnan Hamad, are aiming to play in the Olympics for the fifth time after 1980, 1984, 1988 and 2004.
Their archrivals Iran reached the quarter-finals of the 1976 Montreal Olympics and also qualified for the next edition in Moscow but did not take part in the finals. They are bidding to make it to the biggest sporting extravaganza for the fifth time after 1964, 1972, 1976 and 1980.
Japan, who have appeared eight times in the Olympics men’s football tournament, will host Kuwait in the first leg on June 19 before playing in Kuwait City four days later.
DPR Korea, who won both AFC U-19 and U-16 Championships last year, will meet UAE while Australia will face Yemen in the second round.
Asia were allotted 3.5 slots for the 2012 London Olympics men’s football tournament.
The 12 winners from Round 2 will be divided into three groups of four teams each in the third round.
Again, a home-and-away format from September 21, 2011, to March 14, 2012, will determine the winners who will represent the continent in the Olympics.
Three second-placed teams from the third round will clash in a playoff at a centralised venue from March 25 to 29, 2012, and the winners of this group will meet the representatives of CAF for a berth in the Olympics.
2nd ROUND MATCH-UPS
Qatar vs India
Iraq vs Iran
Bahrain vs Thailand
Australia vs Yemen
Japan vs Kuwait
Syria vs Turkmenistan
DPR Korea vs UAE
Korea Republic vs Jordan
Uzbekistan vs Hong Kong
Saudi Arabia vs Vietnam
China vs Oman
Lebanon vs Malaysia
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